Unsolicited advice

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Uploaded 30-01-26

I love Dostoevsky, and I love tier lists. So today I thought I would combine these loves into the Dostoevsky Tier List. We'll be ranking almost all of his major works, so I hope you enjoy!

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00:00 Poor Folk
08:47 The Double
13:43 White Nights
17:27 The House of The Dead
23:11 The Gambler
28:10 Notes from Underground
32:29 Crime and Punishment
37:38 The Idiot
45:27 Demons
49:21 The Brothers Karamazov

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Jordan Peterson is one of the most prominent public intellectuals in the world today, and one of his favourite things to talk about is religion. But in recent years he has given a series of arguments that I find endlessly fascinating because of their crossover with a view on philosophy that threatens to turn the whole field upside-down (in a good way!)

Uploaded 02-04-24

If you want to work with an experienced study coach teaching maths, philosophy, and study skills then book your session at josephfolleytutoring@gmail.com. Previous clients include students at the University of Cambridge and the LSE.

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Links to Jordan Peterson videos used:

The Greatest God Debate in History: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nQUg4QeI_Y

The Problem with Atheism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwi9Q9apHGI

You Are Closer to Believing in God Than You Think: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2Sp40OgUio

Alex O'Connor's video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-yQVlHo4JA

Books on Philosophical Pragmatism:

Cheryl Misak - Cambridge Pragmatism (this is an amazing introduction): https://tinyurl.com/2n4h45nf

Works of Charles Peirce: https://tinyurl.com/yckd4jxd

Huw Price Expressivism, Pragmatism and Representationalism: https://tinyurl.com/3h8a6wv9

00:00 Peterson on God
01:17 Peterson's Wager
08:42 The Demons of Dostoevsky
15:41 "You Already Believe in God"
23:31 A Pragmatic Philosophy

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I invited my good friend Alex O'Connor (@CosmicSkeptic) onto the channel to talk about the biggest unanswered questions in philosophy, as well as what he has changed his mind on in the past decade on YouTube. I hope you enjoy!

Uploaded 23-01-26

Support me on Patreon here (you lovely person): https://patreon.com/UnsolicitedAdvice701

Subscribe to my Substack here for more of my writings: https://josephfolley.substack.com/

00:00 What have you changed your mind on?
16:28 Why do we need to know what the mind is?
22:15 What is Idealism?
42:17 What is Truth?
57:30 The Split Brain Experiments
1:04:28 Is Panpsychism just Physicalism?
1:09:45 Is the Universe God?
1:21:59 Where do our atheist-theist debates go wrong?
1:31:36 How do you respond to Thomas Aquinas?
1:47:09 How to get in the head of a philosopher?
1:52:09 What is the best idea you encountered last year?
1:57:45 We're doing a show together!

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There are few philosophies as famous and infamous as nihilism - the belief that nothing really matters. But we rarely stop to ask what nihilism actually is, or give a detailed analysis of its properties. And this is a shame because it prevents us having clear and precise conversations about what is perhaps one of the most important philosophical issues of the past 200 years. So today we are going to try to specify the idea of nihilism. It may not be a perfect system, but I am hoping it will bring some clarity to this often nebulous philosophy.

Uploaded 07-04-24

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00:00 Nihilism
01:42 The Total Nihilist
07:13 The Moral Nihilist
11:40 The Conventional Nihilist
15:51 The Dimensions of Nhilism

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Uploaded 17-01-26

There has been much talk recently about the concept of a "Renaissance Man". Friend of the channel @ParkerNotes recently talked about it on his channel, and it got me thinking. So today, I want to talk about one of my favourite thinkers in history - Michel de Montaigne, and how he embodied the archetype of the Renaissance man.

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You can watch Parker's video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izvA2RCVdcA

00:00 The Renaissance Attitude
12:53 The Aim of Study
24:31 The Dilettantish Attitude
35:57 Knowing Thyself

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Perhaps Nietzsche's most famous phrase is "God is dead and we have killed him". But we rarely stop to think about what Nietzsche actually meant by this. And it is a worthy task, because this simple statement has been misinterpreted over and over again in a myriad of different ways, and we could do with separating the wheat from the chaff.

Uploaded 11-04-24

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00:00 God is Dead
01:09 Enlightenment Problems Require Existential Solutions
07:04 God is Dead and So are We
12:42 God is Dead so Become a God
19:59 Atheism Taken Seriously

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What has gone wrong with reading? This is one of the main questions on everybody's lips today, and very few people have written about it as thoroughly as Jared Henderson (@_jared). So I had a chat with him about the modern reading crisis, and what we can do about it.

Uploaded 12-01-26

You can find Jared's Substack here: https://substack.com/@jaredhenderson

You can also find my Substack here: https://substack.com/@josephfolley

00:00 What is the reading crisis?
07:05 How is this over-simplified?
00:25:12 The gap between non-readers and hyper-readers
00:34:05 Byung-Chul Han
00:43:55 What's Happening with Our Attention Spans?
00:51:42 Enjoying Reading
01:08:51 Performative Readers
01:16:27 The Effects of the Internet on Reading
01:23:34 Favourite Books
01:28:34 What's the Point of Fiction

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The first 500 people to use my link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare https://skl.sh/unsolicitedadvice04241

Uploaded 15-04-24

There have been few public intellectuals who are quite as well-respected as Robert Sapolsky. He is clear in his argument, precise in his speech, and persuasive in his claims. Here we will look at his most recent book: Determined: Life without Freewill. It is one of my favourite popular philosophy books I have ever read, and while I don't entirely agree with Sapolsky's conclusions, he is a brilliant writer and I really hope he decides to try his hand at more philosophical debates. He argues that if determinism is true, then despite all appearances, we are not responsible for our actions.

Thank you once again to Skillshare for sponsoring this video.

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David and Choi paper referenced: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25655385?read-now=1&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

00:00 Determined
01:35 The Freewill Debate
07:07 Determinism and Moral Responsibility
16:52 Freewill and The Law
23:33 Conceptions of Will and Responsibility

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Uploaded 06-01-26

Reddit is home to a pretty famous forum, called Am I the A**hole, where people ask for feedback on whether they are in the wrong in a given situation. It struck me recently that some philosophy might be helpful here. So here goes!

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00:00 AITA for pointing out to my friends that they are not famous
14:13 AITA for telling my friend he was getting cheated on
25:35 AITA for giving my partner an ultimatum over his eating habits
33:53 AITA for taking selfies with my male friend

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When The Matrix was released in 1999, it sparked a brand new way to express an old philosophical problem - a sceptical scenario. So let’s dive into the world of scepticism, the simulation hypothesis, and more, to see what they consist of, and how we might be able to refute them.

Uploaded 20-04-24

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00:00 The Simulation Hypothesis
01:27 A Sceptics Guide to Scepticism
05:15 "Stuff Obviously Exists"
10:49 The Contextualist
16:46 Brains in Vats and "Brains" in "Vats"

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JRR Tolkien is one of the most celebrated authors of the past century, and for good reason! But he also was an accomplished essayist and literary critic, and one of his most interesting essays is called "On Fairy Stories" and the insightfulness of its observations far outstrips the modesty of its scope, to encompass the value of storytelling itself. So I am very excited to talk about it with you today.

Uploaded 25-02-26

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Subscribe to my Substack here for more of my writings: https://josephfolley.substack.com/

00:00 Making the World Afresh
10:04 Stories of The Self
20:50 Alternative Stories
34:28 Storytelling and Joy

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Philosophers are often thought of as truth-seekers, but often people are more interested in the mucky world of simple debate, and there is a sardonic, sarcastic essay by Schopenhauer that can help us out here - "On the Art of Being Right". In here he compiles a series of tactics used (often highly dishonestly) to secure victory in an argument even when one is misinformed, or just downright wrong. And this is just what we will look at today, so that we can learn how to destroy anyone in an argument. And also, why we probably shouldn't

Uploaded 22-04-24

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00:00 The Art of Being Right
01:32 "So What You're Saying Is..."
03:43 "What I'm Saying is..."
06:02 Endless Questions
09:09 Control the Metaphors
13:05 The "Strength" of Common Sense
15:36 Interru-
17:14 Make Your Opponent Angry
19:04 Toss a Word Salad
21:14 Miscellaneous Pointers
23:18 The Lessons of Deceit

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A lot of people get the sense that there is something deeply wrong with modern philosophy. And how very unphilosophical it would be to not at least attempt to address this idea, and see if there is anything in it (personally, I think there is actually quite a lot in it). So I have invited philosopher and lecturer @DrWalterVeit onto the show to discuss them with me. I hope you enjoy!

Uploaded 21-02-26

Here is Walter's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@DrWalterVeit
And here is his Substack: https://substack.com/@walterveit
Both are excellent and I highly recommend them!
You can find Walter's book here: https://www.routledge.com/A-Philosophy-for-the-Science-of-Animal-Consciousness/Veit/p/book/9781032343617

Support me on Patreon here (you lovely person): https://patreon.com/UnsolicitedAdvice701

Subscribe to my Substack here for more of my writings: https://josephfolley.substack.com/

00:00 What is wrong with modern philosophy?
11:15 Why intuition is often unreliable?
25:00 What is the role of Thought Experiments in Science?
32:11 What can evolution teach us about the mind?
42:49 Why philosophers should study animals?
46:35 What is pathological complexity and why does it matter?
01:08:45 How do we test Walter's theories?
01:18:15 Do we set the bar for testing consciousness too high?
01:38:15 My doubts about panpsychism
01:48:00 Does Illusionism have a branding problem?
01:52:25 What is conceptual engineering and why does it matter?
02:01:40 What is the most interesting idea you've come across in the past year

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Out of all the arguments for God's existence, there is one that is consistently misunderstood by almost every atheist. The 5 ways of St Thomas Aquinas are complex and mutli-faceted beasts, found in his Summa Theologica. And this is a shame, because in learning about it we gain new insights into Aristotle, Theology, and what work "God" does in a metaphysical system.

Uploaded 27-04-24

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Article on Forms: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato-metaphysics/

00:00 St Thomas Aquinas
02:08 He Likes to Move it Move it
06:00 Why? Just Cause
10:13 Is That Really Necessary?
14:45 Goodness, Perfection, and Plato
19:21 Oh the Finality!

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Uploaded 15-02-26

An article went viral last year from British Vogue, called “Is Having a Boyfriend Embarrassing Now?”. And amongst all the cries about how love is embarrassing now, I wanted to ask whether this is anything new. Is it instead the case that love has always been embarrassing? I think so, and I would like to say why.

Support me on Patreon here (you lovely person): https://patreon.com/UnsolicitedAdvice701

Subscribe to my Substack here for more of my writings: https://josephfolley.substack.com/

Links:

Is having a boyfriend embarrassing now: https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/is-having-a-boyfriend-embarrassing-now

The Rise of the Highfivesexuals https://open.substack.com/pub/cartoonshateher/p/the-rise-of-the-highfivesexuals?r=2ohjsz

00:00 Boyfriends, Girlfriends, and Shame
09:31 Love has Always Been Embarrassing
22:07 The Independence Obsession

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Philosophy is often conceived as a way of making sense of a flawed existence. And perhaps no work is better for this than Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy. He writes this book while awaiting his painful death and imprisonment for standing up for the Roman Senate in the face of corruption, and for that, he has been condemned. His insights can help any of us, whether we are dealing with something as significant as an unjust imprisonment, or simply making our way through the endless tiny sufferings of life itself. This is how philosophy can save your life.

Uploaded 02-05-24

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00:00 The Consolations of Philosophy
01:18 The Problem of Pointless Suffering
06:49 The False Idols
12:03 The Constraints of Value
18:56 What Makes a Meaning?

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Why is it that every wellness guru seems to cite neuroscience? Is it relevant, or is it all just misleading bunk? I am woefully unfit to answer such questions, but Tommy Blanchard most certainly is not! And here I sit down with him and ask how we can avoid BS neuroscience.

Uploaded 10-02-26

You can find Tommy on Substack here: https://substack.com/@tommyblanchard
Tommy's YouTube is here: https://www.youtube.com/@TommyBlanchardable

Support me on Patreon here (you lovely person): https://patreon.com/UnsolicitedAdvice701

Subscribe to my Substack here for more of my writings: https://josephfolley.substack.com/

00:00 Why can't neuroscience give you wellness advice?
13:45 What are the limits of our neuroscience knowledge?
26:30 How do findings get misrepresented?
36:35 How can we spot neuroscience garnish?
47:05 Our current way of understanding the mind is weird
54:18 Where does philosophy go wrong in thinking about Neuroscience?
1:15:12 How Neuroscience can teach us about the mind
1:37:30 Shifting our vocabulary around consciousness
1:45:34 How can philosophy and science work together?

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Very few philosophers have been misconstrued and misunderstood as much as Friedrich Nietzsche. And he was truly terrified of this eventuality, so much so that he repeatedly says not to mistake him in his works. So in that spirit, we are going to examine the top 5 myths about Nietzsche that I see floating around the internet. I hope you enjoy it!

Uploaded 06-05-24

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Article: https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/38564/chapter-abstract/334362033?redirectedFrom=fulltext

00:00 The Myths of Nietzsche
01:19 Nietzsche the fascist
07:27 Nietzsche the cruel
14:11 Nietzsche the hedonist
19:48 Nietzsche the nihilist
24:47 Nietzsche the incoherent

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To learn for free on Brilliant, go to https://brilliant.org/Unsolicitedadvice/ . You’ll also get 20% off an annual premium subscription.

Uploaded 04-02-26

The term "Parasocial Relationships" has become quite the hot button issue lately. With the rise of social media, they are seemingly growing at a rapid pace. So what is the future of parasocial relationships, and what harm can they do?

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Subscribe to my Substack here for more of my writings: https://josephfolley.substack.com/

00:00 Sociality and Parasociality
13:29 Parasocial Relationships: The Good and The Bad
21:42 The Parasocial World
36:58 The Future of Parasociality

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Kierkegaard's "The Present Age" or "On The Present Age" is his attempt to make sense of the changing world of 19th century Denmark, and the dawn of what we would now call modernity. And In this brilliant piece Kierkegaard takes us through so many issues we now view as major and established - predicting them over 150 years ago. So here is his guide to why you hate the modern world.

Uploaded 11-05-24

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00:00 The Present Age
01:21 A Passionless Present
06:29 Information Overload
11:51 The Pitiless Public
16:27 Levelling and The Individual

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